Azure Ray's Hallelujah

Azure Ray are back with an enchanting cover of the Leonard Cohen classic, Hallelujah. Orenda Fink & Maria Taylor give this eminent song a unique cover with a vocal that drips like chilled grainy honey against a background of wild wintry wind.

The harmonies are choreographed exquisitely, plucked strings swim perfectly alongside a gently lilting piano but it is the stunning vocal with its super rich tones that makes this piece special. When it would be too easy to let blast at predictable moments the pair adeptly hold back and use harmony to add emphasis rather than simply ramping up the volume to the already punchy resonance.

A beautiful, well constructed, deftly delivered fresh version of this song for the festive season.

Find Hallelujah and Azure Ray's back catalogue here on Bandcamp.

Two Birds Tweeting

The Owl and the Nightingale by Simon Armitage
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed this poem - Poet Laureate Simon Armitage's translation of one of the earliest recorded stories told in Middle English. The exquisitely rhyming verse (which I imagine must have been painful to update for modern readers whilst keeping the rhyme and staying faithful to the original text) follows an overheard conversation between the title characters.

As the birds argue about whose life and manner of living is more worthwhile and virtuous, the back and forth get very real, as heated as a Twitter debate and decidedly misogynistic in parts which for me sat a tad awkwardly with the fact that the birds are purportedly female.

Amongst other crimes, Owl blames Nightingale of encouraging licentious behaviour and extra-marital affairs with her saccharine song and all-consuming monologues. Nightingale in turn accuses Owl's screeching woeful dirges of striking fear into those unfortunate enough to hear. Peculiarly (or perhaps not giving the verses' human author) it seems important to them both to please and be of good service to God, the law, reigning King and humanity in general.

I read it over a few evenings, skipping over the more 'saucy' sections when my daughter was still awake! It benefits, like most poetry, from being read out loud, with specific voices for each bird if you please.

The illustrations by Clive Hicks-Jenkins are colourful and stunning and add to the Middle Ages atmosphere. Overall the verse is very laugh out loud funny, sometimes shocking, outrageously chauvinistic and objectifying of women and their role in society (which no doubt mirrors the sad times in which it was written) and ends with great humour which our original author and current translator must have revelled in writing.

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Music For Your Ears

If music be the food of love, play on;
Give me excess of it, that, surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken, and so die.
That strain again! it had a dying fall:

Music plays a leading role in the life of this curious mother. Except for those moments when I need a dose of relative silence, am entertaining Pixie, or am recording my own music, these four walls reverberate almost continuously with Spotify playlists, new releases or the latest tunes I've bagged on bandcamp. For me, an excess of it is a rare occurrence.

The Mix-Tape playlists I curate on Spotify began way back in the summer of 2018 and will I'm sure continue for some time. They are akin to mood-boards on which I pin lists of tunes that I enjoy listening to, new and old, under headings that either create a certain ambience or tell a story in lyrics and music. My Corona series for example tells a tale of the pandemic in ongoing stages of development. It is a musical documentary of sorts using music to relay some of the issues, situations and feelings that arose from and continue to arise from Covid and explore how these factors affected / affect us.

Sound is such a powerful and potent element in all of our lives in one way or another. Even if you're not as addicted to music as I am, life's soundscapes, the natural world's vibrations and the feelings music creates in us can make or break our days, take us away from the mundane either straight into the eye of a chaotic storm or into a more serene, ethereal space providing respite from anxious and debilitating thoughts.

I'd like to share a bit more of the music that soundtracks my days in the studio and some of the tunes, tracks and songs I'm currently listening to and loving. You can find all myshared playlists here and below are some of the gems I purchased recently via the incredibly useful medium that is bandcamp.

WavesAs Tall As Houses by St. Clair

I love the fairground folky style of St. Clair's music and this lush little EP doesn't fail to impress with deeply primal beats pounding like waves beneath beautiful voices - a chorus of Mer-people sirening us under the water, a lone haunting vocal or heart-breaking violin drifting along the sand from an indistinguishable point on the rocks. This deliciously delicate sound floats like a dream around our ears and combines with profound yet relatable lyrics to ensure the music hits our hearts and touches our souls in an unforgettable way. One to play on repeat whilst storm watching.

Wanderers (feat. Michelle B.) by The G

LA artist and producer The G writes and performs emotive synthwave music and this title track from his recent Wanderers album on the New Retro Wave label, is full of the feelz. The music takes us back to a re-lived 1980s, lying - as nonchalantly and romantically as a young awkward teen can - in sun-drenched playing-fields, daydreams skipping hand in hand with strange thoughts and feelings that seem certain one moment, mad foolishness the next. Michelle B's breathy yet controlled vocals carry the heated lyrics perfectly. One to play on repeat this summer. Check out the album too - it’s a beautiful piece of new retrowave synth-saturated nostalgic delight as is The G’s playlist ‘Wanderers:a Vocal Synthwave Playlist’.

Lately (Charlotte + Carolina version) by Charlotte Carpenter

This beautifully tender track released in June, is a new version of Lately recorded at home by Charlotte and Carolina in celebration of Pride month. Charlotte’s soothing vocals, spare lyrics and exquisite guitar always work refreshing wonders for the harangued listener. Here, her vocals harmonise effortlessly with Carolina’s and this deceptively simple siren song drifts gently through the ears, reaching parts of the soul we were previously unaware of. A restorative tune for trying times.

All proceeds go to Mermaids charity supporting transgender and gender variant children and their families.

Inner Song Remix Series by Kelly Lee Owens

This LP contains a plethora of remixes by techno producer and musician Kelly Lee Owens, of her second album Inner Song which was released last summer on Smalltown Supersound to ecstatic reviews. I have to confess to not yet having listened to the whole original album but can tell you that these remixes stand alone as exemplar pieces, soundscapes of sparse thumping techno combined with otherworldly vocals, distant voices. It feels a bit like wandering into the back room of a club towards the end of the night, losing yourself in the dancing whilst the phone calls and thoughts of your fellow dancers and those lounged around the edges are played out loud. This I guess is the point of the original record - a glimpse into Kelly’s mind and some of its many facets and voices. At once recognizable and strange. Find a quiet spot, relax and let the sounds flow through, taking you on a journey. And it is a trip, enjoy x

My 2nd story published on @Vocal_Creators is for a competition with @FiskarsAmericas competition. 

A Stitch In Time is a short story about family, belonging, escape and the legacies passed from one generation to the next. It revolves around one of my favourite crafts - sewing.

"..The fabric was snipped into shape with the orange handled, adult-only scissors whilst loose threads were cut away with the large blue zig-zag pair cleverly designed to inhibit fraying or straying. All bad habits are removed at the base, prevented from developing into worse ones because we all know that one bad thing leads to another.."

If you enjoy it, please 'like' it and feel free to share.

Thanks for reading x

Scarlet and Teal

My first story on @Vocal_Creators has been published, yay! 

Scarlet and Teal is about a girl whose red as thunder heart dissolved into a sea of blue. Will she make it back to shore? x

Harry Potter Book 1 - The Philosopher's Stone

Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K. Rowling
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Glad I resisted reading the HP books when they came out and have just read the first 3 for the first time with my 7 year old. We loved them all. Great stories, well written, likeable characters (obvs).

This opening book sets the scene well for more adventures to come but also stands well on its own. The story telling is compelling and the plot is well thought out with a continuous stream of interesting situations for young Harry + his new friends to deal with. The magical v muggle world detail is impeccably thought out, described and tantalisingly believable culminating in the extraordinary game of Quidditch. A joy to read at 7 or 48 years of age!

p.s. We read the super lovely 20th anniversary Bloomsbury house edition - paperback, Gryffindor, non-stripy as seen here.

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god is a shout

My latest poetry reading on Soundcloud is called 'god is a shout'. I was inspired to write it by one of the great #IthacaPrompts offered back in Mar2021 by @Writing.By.SA on Instagram. The poetry community on Insta are a super inspiring + talented bunch. Do check them out if you haven't already.

This piece is a visceral documentation of a day in the life of a creative parent, body bound to the home by low mobility, mind escaping to the stars via the alchemy of ink + paper. Hope you enjoy the words below + the reading here x

I woke in dreamtime

Another poetry recording, this time of a micropoem written in 2019. To create the out-of-this-world, dreamy experience the poem needed, I channeled a mix of Luna Lovegood + Professor Trelawney (both Harry Potter Characters - The Pixie + I have recently finished reading the first 3 books together and she watches the first 3 films on repeat whenever she can. I've just binge watched the remaining 5 films in my generous parental duty to check if films 4-8 are suitable for a seven year old to watch - they are most definitely not suitable but are very good for a 48 year old!).

'I woke in dreamtime' can be found here.

Easter Monday Audio

Here's another recording just posted on Soundcloud of my poem Easter Monday. This one called for a quiet background, unlike the others I've recorded with my own music (perhaps 'audible experience' would be a better description) tucked underneath the words. Would love to know what you think of any of these offerings - words, images, sounds - so do send me a tweet @racheblue with any feedback you may have. Thanks x

Spoken Word Poems

Hello there,

I've not been here much lately due to general busyness. As well as practicing my songwriting and getting to grips with basic recording (a tricky business particularly when I don't really play a musical instrument, just tinkle about with a few learnt way back in school-days), I've been transforming my written work into visual and audible content to complement the words and give them a fresh lease of life. It's all a bit hotch-potch at times as I'm mostly building my wings on the way down (I knew there was something I should have done before jumping off, damn it!). Ah well, c'est la vie. I hope you enjoy them as much as I've had fun recording them.

Susie is the second of my poetry readings aka spoken word tracks posted on Soundcloud. Enjoy x

Spring

A small poem on not wanting to engage in the expansive nature of spring, wishing to remain in hibernation rather than face the onslaught of feelings and emotions that spring ushers forth..

If you prefer to listen, check out my reading on Soundcloud here.

For more words, pictures and sounds follow me on Twitter and Instagram. 

More readings to follow on Soundcloud soon.. x 

Some recent poems..